SA8217;s outgoing8217; President

His long body, although stiffened by age and hard labour in prison, rocked in rhythm 8212; elbows out, fists clenched, a broad smile on his face.

The 8216;Madiba Jive8217; was born, to become a famous dance style, often good-naturedly copied by the public.

Not a meeting of his African National Congress ANC or routine visit to a school could go by without Mandela being asked to dance, even though his swinging steps became less supple as the years passed.

His array of Madiba shirts8217; 8212; loose, multicoloured, silk garments which emphasise his height and tanned face 8212; havealso become part of Mandela8217;s image.

A joy for photographers, these shirts have been jokingly described as 8220;strange8221; by his successor, Thabo Mbeki, who prefers formal suits.

8220;No other President in the world has had such an impact on fashion,8221; a clothing store proclaimed in a recent advertisement in a newspaper supplement wishing Mandela farewell on his retirement next week.

The outgoing President is adored by both children in humble townships and world leaders, who have been known to plead with photographers for a picture of them next to their hero.

This head of state8217;s honesty, humility and apparent candour charm all who meet him.

Few world statesmen can show the sincere respect Mandela does, when meeting ordinary people, without appearing awkward or comical.

Few could be as attentive as Mandela when he interrupted a cabinet meeting to asK after the health of a heavily pregnant reporter, putting his big boxer8217;s hands on her round stomach and enquiring about the expected date ofdelivery.

And few could gently mock themselves, without seeming ridiculous, as Mandela does, confiding in his sometimes raspy, low voice: 8220;I must step down from politics while there are one or two people who admire me.8221;

His wife Graca says: 8220;He is able to open up and say things that others could not and still have dignity.8221;

Mandela is always dignified, whether in an interview about the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, discussing South Africa8217;s high crime rate or talking about human rights with his friend Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Even when describing his love for Graca, the 80-year-old elegance shines through: 8220;To be in love is an experience that every man must go through 8230; I am blooming like a flower because of the love and support she has given me.8221;

He is 8220;at once proud and simple; soft and tenacious; determinedly obstinate and flexible; vain and shy; cool and impatient,8221; says his old friend Ahmed Kathrada.

Friend and foe alike have been impressed byMandela.

Roelf Meyer, a former negotiator for the apartheid regime, says he realised the extent of Mandela8217;s charisma when he saw dozens of young white soldiers, who had defended apartheid, line up to shake the hand of the man they were told was a terrorist,8217; soon after his release in 1990 from 27 years in jail.

This adulation has not diminished even though Mandela has gradually moved out of day-to-day active politics over the last few years, becoming even more the 8220;grandfather of the nation8221;, and what Archbishop Desmond Tutu called an 8220;icon of reconciliation.8221;

Mandela has become an idol in his own lifetime, almost untouchable, or even, as a series of tee-shirts about superheroes quips ironically, a 8220;SuperMadibaMan.8221;